"He's a little older than you, almost twenty-three, but mentally he's two. He needs around the clock care and he's in a special home, with two others like him and they have a team of caregivers. He's been there for a few months now and it seems to be working out well. I wanted to make sure before I made the commitment to move closer.
He's been at other places that haven't worked out as well. He's a wonderful child. But he's challenging and the older he gets, the more care he requires and more health issues crop up. He's already outlived the typical life expectancy for people with his condition."
"What is his condition?" Laura asked.
"Several genetic disorders, including Downs Syndrome and autism."
Laura thought about that for a moment. She tried hard to remember Harold but her mind was completely blank.
"Where did we live before this?"
"Several hours north. Just outside Billings. You’re all set to go to Montana State in the fall.”
“I am?” That sounded vaguely familiar to Laura, which cheered her up a bit. She was confident that her memory would soon be back.
“Tomorrow we can ride around a bit and explore the area. It’s still new to me as well. There’s a strip mall a few miles down the road. A few of the stores there had help wanted signs up, and you mentioned applying when we got back from our vacation.”
“Oh? That’s a great idea.” With several months of summer stretching out before her, Laura welcomed a part-time job to keep busy.
“What did I decide to major in?”
Her aunt looked stumped for a moment, trying to remember.
“Liberal Arts, I think. No, that’s not right. Education, maybe? You can change it, though. See how you feel when you get there and start taking classes.”
Laura yawned. Even though she’d had a nap, she still felt exhausted. It had been a long day and a lot to process.
“I think I might go to bed early,” she said.
Her aunt smiled. “That’s a good idea. We’ll get an early start in the morning.”
Laura got a good night’s sleep, and she and her aunt spent the next day exploring Bozeman, shopping for more clothes, enjoying lunch at a local cafe and filling out applications at the three businesses that were hiring at the strip mall her aunt had mentioned. There was a music shop that sold all kinds of instruments as well as CDs and also gave guitar lessons, a hair salon that was looking for a receptionist, and a bakery that needed counter help. Laura spoke briefly to the managers at each place and all said they would be in touch soon, They asked for her availability, which she said was immediate.
Once they were in the car and on their way home, her aunt asked her if she had a preference between the three places.
Laura laughed. “Not really. If any of them call and offer me a job, the answer is yes.”
The next day, they went to visit Harold. Laura noticed that her aunt seemed anxious as they pulled into the parking lot and made their way to the townhouse where Harold lived. She relaxed and broke into a big smile when a slightly chubby, dark-haired young man ran over to her as soon as they walked in.
“Mama! Mama!” He flung himself at her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She hugged him back tightly and Laura noticed that her eyes were damp.
“Hi, Sweetie. Have you been a good boy? We missed you.”
“Painting,” Harold said in response, and pulled his mother over to the table where he’d been sitting with two others, all using crayons to color.
“Harold loves to color, though he calls it painting.” A young woman in her mid-twenties walked over to them and her aunt introduced her. “Laura this is Carol, Harold’s main caregiver. Carol, this is Harold’s cousin, Laura. I wanted to wait until he was settled in here before bringing her by to visit.”
Carol nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” She turned back to her aunt. “It’s been a pretty good week. Some ups and downs, but mostly good.”
Her aunt looked concerned. “Is he having stomach issues again?”
“Yes, we’ve been adjusting his medicine to see if that helps. The doctor was in a few days ago and said this is normal, unfortunately, and there’s not a lot to be done, except to manage the symptoms as best we can.”
Her aunt sighed. “He looks good. Laura, let’s go over and say hello.”
“I’ll be in the other room if you need me,” Carol said. She wandered off, and they went over to visit with Harold. He was coloring happily and looked up when they drew closer.
“Harold, you remember your cousin, Laura?”
He just smiled at her.
“Hi, Harold. You’re doing a good job there,” Laura said.
He beamed. “Painting!” and then focused back on his crayons and paper.
They stayed for another hour or so and then said their goodbyes to Harold, who looked up for a moment. When when he realized they were leaving, he ran to his mother and hugged her tightly and started to seem agitated.
“Mama! Mama!” he screamed and then the tears came. Carol came rushing out at the sound, drew Harold away and gave him a big hug. He rocked back and forth and kept screaming, “Mama! Mama!” over and over again.
“Go ahead. I’ve got him. He’ll settle down as soon as he can’t see you. Don’t worry.” Carol spoke softly and Laura held the front door open for her aunt, who also had tears streaming down her cheeks as they walked out.
“Is it always like that?” Laura asked, once they were in the car and her aunt had calmed down and found a tissue to dry her eyes.
“Yes. It seems like he hardly knows we’re there, but then when I try to leave, he gets upset. It breaks my heart every time.”
“How long has he been living away from home?” Laura asked, curious about why Harold wasn’t living at home.
“It’s been three years now. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. Ultimately, it’s for the best, but it’s still painful. He needs more attention and care than I could give him, without quitting my job to stay home full-time and even then, it would be too much for one person. He’s gotten worse as he’s gotten older and requires constant monitoring. I did it for as long as I could. Longer than was recommended, but it was so hard to let him go.” She pressed her tissue to her eyes again and then shifted into reverse and backed out of her parking spot.
“He didn’t seem to remember me,” Laura said.
Her aunt was quiet for a moment and then said, “It’s been a few months since he’s seen you. We wanted to get him settled first. He doesn’t recognize most people unless he’s with them all the time.”
“How often do you see him?”
“I go every weekend, both days usually.”
Laura nodded. “I’ll go with you this weekend. Maybe he’ll recognize me then.”
When they got home, there were two messages on the machine. The first was from the music shop. The store manager, Peter, asked her to call as soon as she got the message. The second was from the bakery, also asking her to call and ask for Julie, the owner.
“Which one are you going to take?” Her aunt asked.
“I’ll call them both, but if the music shop is offering a job, I’ll take it since they called first.”
Peter answered on the first ring and got right to the point. “I’d love to hire you if you’re interested. It’ll be three or four shifts a week, late afternoon to close which is at seven. Weekends we close at six.”
“That sounds great.”
“You said you were available immediately. Is tomorrow too soon? I could have you shadow me for a shift.”
“Tomorrow’s fine.”
“See you at three, then.” Laura hung up the phone and went to make her second call.
“Congratulations!” her aunt said.
“Thank you. Would it be crazy, do you think, if I accepted both jobs? The bakery will mostly be breakfast and lunch I think.”
“As long as you don’t think it will be too much, I don’t see why not. See what they say.”
Laura spoke
with Julie, who also offered her a position working the counter and said the hours were usually mornings and sometimes included lunch, but they closed at two, so she’d easily be able to walk a few doors down to be to the music shop by three. Julie also said she could use her several days a week, so the two jobs combined would be like one full-time position. Laura hung up the phone and smiled. She now had something to do with her days.
Chapter 5
Cole was miserable. Everywhere he went, people asked about Laura and all he could tell them was that they’d broken up and she’d moved out of state with a distant relative since she had no other family in the area. But he was supposed to be her family. Cole had no idea who this distant relative was or where she might have gone. As far as he knew, her mother was the only family that she had. He didn’t have much of a family at the moment, either, as he wasn’t speaking to his father.
He had plenty of friends, of course, and kept busy with them. He worked at the club as a caddy and played a lot of golf, taking care to avoid the times when he knew his father would be there. He was looking forward to the fall and college. It was bittersweet, though, as he’d assumed that both he and Laura would be attending together and that they’d be newlyweds by then with a baby on the way. He’d been a little freaked out at first about the idea of having children so young. But the idea had grown on him, and he’d thought that he and Laura could handle anything because their love was strong. He still couldn’t understand how he could have been so wrong about that.
Part of him blamed his father, of course, for paying her to go away. But the other part of him argued that if she took the money, then she wasn’t the one for him. Their love wasn’t as strong as he’d thought it was. One thing he knew for sure was that he wasn’t going to be in a hurry to get married to anyone anytime soon. He was still feeling numb and raw. He didn’t even really feel like dating at all, but his friends kept encouraging him to get back out there. To get back on the horse and get over it. Easier said than done. But he sensed that it might be a good idea to just have fun, make it clear he wasn’t looking to be serious and just casually date.
So he did. He went out with a few different girls but and rarely saw anyone more than once or twice. They were all nice girls, but they were interchangeable to him, just pleasant company to pass the time and try to get his mind off the one woman he wanted but could never have again.
Her aunt said that there was car in the garage that Laura could use. Her husband had loved old convertibles and she hadn’t been able to bring herself to sell it. She drove it every now and then to keep it going. Laura would have to take a driving test to get her license first though. That surprised her a little as she felt like she already knew how to drive. Her aunt said she’d been teaching her before they went on vacation. But, at least the music shop was close enough that she could walk there until then.
When Laura arrived at the shop, Peter was ringing up a customer at the register. As soon as he finished, he showed Laura around and taught her to use the register and how to look up artists in the store database online.
“People often come in and know what they’re looking for but don’t remember the name of the song or of the band. We can usually figure it out with what they do remember and point them in the right direction.”
He showed her the various instruments. They had the biggest selection of guitars, and he explained how they differed from each other.
“We also give lessons, mostly on guitar, but some piano, too. Did I mention that one perk of the job is free lessons?” He grinned. “It helps if you’re familiar with the different guitars so you can steer customers in the right direction and answer some of their questions. It also gives us something to do during slow times. Which one do you want to try?”
“Right now? I can try any of them?”
“Pick your favorite.”
Laura walked around the shop looking closely at the different guitars until finally selecting one of the smaller ones.
“An excellent choice. That’s one of the entry-level guitars, one that people often start out with. It’s less expensive and is great to learn the basics on. Grab a pick from that bowl by the counter and come sit next to me.”
Laura did as he asked, selecting a hot pink pick and then brought the guitar over to where Peter was already seated with his own guitar. She sat next to him and for the next twenty minutes until a customer walked in, Peter showed her the basics, how to hold her hands and use the pick and how to play several chords.
“Keep practicing. You’re doing great. Billy is here for a lesson, so we’re heading out back. Think you can hold down the fort for the next half hour?”
“Sure.”
“Good. If you need help, just holler, and I’ll come out.”
Peter and Billy went off to the back for their lesson and Laura played around with the guitar until another customer came in. She was surprised by how much she liked the feel of the instrument and the strings against her fingers. She also liked the way the chords sounded as she played one after another. She found an instruction book on a shelf nearby and taught herself several more chords. She knew that she’d never played guitar before, but something about it felt so familiar, as if she somehow instinctively knew how to make music. For the first time since she’d come to Montana, she started to feel a spark of excitement, a thrill of discovery.
She set the guitar down and jumped up when a customer came through the door.
“Do you have the newest Pearl Jam CD? I’m drawing a blank on the name.” The customer, a man in his early thirties, asked.
“Let me check.” Laura looked in the database and saw that they had two copies in stock.
“We have it. I’ll show you where it is.” She led him to the aisle and found the two CDs exactly where they should be.
“Great, thanks!”
As Laura was ringing up the sale, Peter and Billy walked towards her. She handed the man his change and CD in a small paper bag and said, “Thank you,”
Billy waved goodbye, and Peter turned to her.
“Everything go all right? Looked like you were doing fine with the register.”
“He bought the new Pearl Jam CD. I hope you don’t mind, but I looked through that instruction book and taught myself a few more chords.”
“You did? Let’s hear.”
Laura picked up the guitar and nervously played the chords she’d taught herself. When she finished, she looked to Peter for feedback and was relieved to see that he was smiling.
“You’re a natural. Let me show you a few more things.”
The rest of the shift flew, and Peter walked her out when they closed the shop at seven.
“You did a great job today. I have you off tomorrow but will see you at three the next day. Sound good?”
Laura smiled. “Yes, thank you. See you then.”
She climbed onto her bike, and ten minutes later pulled into her aunt’s driveway and led the bike into the garage. As she was leaning it against the garage wall, she noticed something in a far corner and walked over to investigate. There was a guitar there, covered with dust and sticking out of a box. In the box were stacks of sheet music and what looked like a very old instruction manual. She wondered whose guitar it had been. Did her aunt play? Surely it wasn’t Harold’s? She picked it up and liked the feel of the wood. It was about the same size as the one she’d been playing in the shop. She rubbed away some of the dust and saw that the guitar itself seemed to be in good condition. She strummed it and grabbed a pick from the bottom of the box. Dusty or not, the guitar sounded just fine as she tried out a few of the chords she’d just learned. She suddenly felt ridiculously happy as she set the guitar back in the box and then went inside to ask her aunt about it.
“That was your uncle Jim’s. My husband.” Her eyes grew cloudy, and Laura sensed the sadness surrounding her like a cloak. “He died of colon cancer five years ago. Just three months after being diagnosed.”
“I’m so sorry.” They were sitting at the
kitchen table, and Laura glanced at the photo on the wall.
“That’s him.” Her aunt, and a pleasant-faced, brown-haired man that didn’t look at all familiar to Laura, were sitting by a lake. It was a lovely picture, and it frustrated Laura. Why couldn’t she remember these people? Her aunt reached out and patted her hand.
“It’s strange but normal not to remember. The doctor said that you might not get all of your memories back. You’ll just have to create new ones.”
Laura smiled. “I know. I keep reminding myself of that.”
“Why don’t you bring it in? It must be awfully dusty. I don’t play, and I almost tossed it out when we moved, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. He loved that guitar. He was pretty good, too. There was some music and books with it too, I think?”
“Yes, everything was in a box out there. You don’t mind if I bring it in? I just had my first lesson at work today, and it would be fun to play with it.”
“No, I don’t mind at all. It would be wonderful to see someone getting some joy out of it.”
Laura woke early the next morning to get to the bakery by six a.m. Julie, the owner, was there when she arrived and unlocked the front door to let her in. Julie was in her late thirties, with short, spiky black hair and bright green eyes. She had told Laura when she met with her initially that she and her husband bought the bakery five years ago and he did most of the baking while she managed the front of the restaurant.
“Do many people come in this early?” Laura asked as she followed Julie out back and then tied on the pink apron that she handed her. It had big pockets in front and a strap that went around her neck.
“Quite a few, actually. Mostly people who start their jobs early and stop in for a coffee or muffin first. Or some retired folks that are up early and like to meet up with their friends and socialize. You’ll get to know most of them,” Julie said as she showed her how to work the coffee and espresso machines.
Nashville Dreams Page 3